Thursday, 26 January 2017

That 70's Show. My Review. Raees

From Gaurav (Fan)
to Dr. Jehangir Khan (Dear Zindagi) to Raees Alam, let’s say SRK is having a
good streak compared to the highly forgettable Happy New Year and banal Dilwale.
Playing three absolutely distinct characters with aplomb, one would like to
believe as he keeps quoting “some films for mann (heart) and some for Dhan
(Money)” he would do more for mann. Raees is of course an attempt to marry mann
and dhan.

Rahul Dholakia
who directed the national award winning gut-wrencher Parzania among others, and
SRK coming together for a film was interesting news to say the least. The
subject was Dholakia’s turf, Gujarat in the times of upheaval, add to it the
era of bootleggers and underworld, smuggling and scotch, and though he claims
it is not, the life and times of Abdul Lateef.

But as the
trailers started hitting the screens one could see less of Dholakia and more of
masala. The Gujarat prohibition backdrop, a larger than life anti-hero with a heart
of gold, an incorruptible cop whose sole mission is to destroy the protagonist,
a web of politician-crime nexus… Well, Raees has all the trappings of
Salim-Javedesque 70’s blockbusters. There is even a doff to their Amitabh
Bachchan starrer Kaala Patthar as it plays in the background of a crucial
scene. But Raees also gets trapped in its
own vehicle carrying a superstar.

Where Raees
scores :

Shahrukh
makes a great good hearted bad guy. He brings in his classic charm and charisma
to the film, even as he guns his enemies down. Shahrukh gets his goods together,
shining in many moments. His Raees is made believable by his getting
comfortable and settled in the character, and he is clearly enjoying going all
out with many hard core action sequences. He pulls off the romance alongside the
unflinching killer when required with same conviction. He is endearing when
cooking for his wife, flying a kite and is menacing when he decides to take
revenge. His and Nawaz’s chemistry crackles.

Nawazuddin
Siddiqui. He is brilliant in the film. He gives his Inspector/SP Majmudar teeth
and tongue in cheek deliveries. A delight to watch a properly fleshed character
in a superstar film, that too of a cop, which are mostly seen mouthing same old
lines. I loved him in Raees. Every scene that has Nawaz in it, is made better
by his nuances. The writers have made him quirky and even when there are no
dialogues, Nawaz gets in a “see what I did there” moment.

Supporting
cast : The film has a very good cast all around, from small blink and miss
roles to meatier ones, Raees gets it right mostly. I have two grudges, but that
is for later.

Dialogues
are another high point of the film, especially the repartee between Nawaz and
Shahrukh. From the already popular “Baniye ka Dimaag, Miyaan bhai kee daring”
to “ Bete ka baap bana hai, Gujarat ka nahi”, there is good old fashioned
dialoguebaazi, and unlike some other underworld based franchises actually pack
a punch and not make you laugh at their absurdity.

Action : The
film has some well choreographed action sequences, and I don’t remember the
last time I saw Shahrukh do that.

Rahul
Dholakia’s understanding of Gujarat, his research on that era, the character,
the detailing add to Raees. The first half is excellent.

Where Raees
fails :

The
stretched second half. The film loses steam, too many songs slow the
proceedings.

Predictability.
Like many anti-hero films in Hindi cinema, one can predict how the film is
going to unravel and end. Some of the portions in the second half seem forced
and further bring down the story telling.

The self-censoring
of the controversial layers. I was expecting Dholakia to be braver, but alas,
the riots, the blasts, all were treated in a hurried, shoddy manner, without
ever scratching the surface. The film obviously wanted to stay as far away from
controversy as possible.

Mahira Khan
: She doesn’t add anything to the film, neither is her character given it’s due
nor has she made it stand out, despite a few scenes where a better actress
would have made an impression. Another casting fail for me was if you have a
fabulous performer like Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, don’t waste him so mercilessly.

Music. With
so many songs, appearing at whim at the most unrequired places, cutting into
the film’s pace, it would have helped if they were better compositions. Even
Laila fails to impress, and sadly same goes for La Leone.

Raees could
have been a hard hitting commentary on the times it is set in, but it chooses
to be more of a commercial carrier. Nothing bad in that, only it sometimes
pretends to be what it is clearly not.

Having said
that, I enjoyed most of it. Shahrukh and Nawaz, both made it worth the ticket
price.